iOS 7 Sports Effective New Features With Some Weird Quirks

At the very least, this is distracting. Some users have even claimed that this feature causes stomach-churning motion sickness.

But the so-called “flat” look, as some observers have referred to the new look of iOS 7, really isn’t flat. Instead, Apple designers have removed the fake shadows that used to be around some parts of the icons that were supposed to give it the appearance of depth. In addition, the designers have simplified the icons. To me, the result is clean-looking and resembles in some ways the icon appearance of BlackBerry 10 as much as anything.

But this is not to suggest that Apple is somehow copying BlackBerry or anyone else. While it’s true that Android, for example, has the information screen that pulls down from the top, this doesn’t look like a copy of what Android is doing. The simplified icons kind of look like what Microsoft does with its tiles, but Apple isn’t using tiles, they’re icons, and there’s none of the live tile action that some people don’t like about Windows Phone 8.

What Apple has done is get rid of the vestiges of fake details. The notepad, for example, doesn’t look like a yellow legal pad. The newsstand doesn’t look like a fake bookcase. There are no faux linen backgrounds and no digital Naugahyde. Other things are cleaner as well. Open a folder containing apps, and the folder simply expands. No longer does the screen split open.

Also cleaned up is the multitasking screen. Where once you did a double-tap on the home button to show the open apps at the bottom of the screen, now you see an expanded row of open apps that you can slide across your screen. You close an app by flicking it up.

But some things don’t work well. Trying to flick up an app frequently doesn’t do anything. In addition, I frequently found that it takes several tries for iOS 7 to respond to a touch that once worked properly with iOS 6, acting as if the level of sensitivity has been reduced—and unfortunately, if there’s a control for that, I haven’t found it.

But some oversights are more frustrating—go to the screen to load different wallpaper or a different lock screen and when you select your choice there’s no response of any kind—even if the process is working. So you keep pressing on the screen and the iPad (in my case) just keeps trying again, even if it’s already worked without your knowledge.

Overall, upgrading to iOS 7 is well worth the effort. The device works better, it’s easier to use in most cases and Apple has streamlined much of the operation. You should know that there are some differences for non-Retina display devices and for iPhones. So you may want to take a look at someone else’s before you make the change. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like iOS 7.